Questions remain after drilling decision

Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published 6:50 am, Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Midland City Council sent a mixed message to both business and the public this week when it ruled that RSP Permian will be permitted to drill two out of five wells requested in a northwest neighborhood.

We understand the sensitive nature of this issue, but we would have preferred a solid stance rather than a weak attempt at compromise, which is likely to please neither side. The council had an unusual series of five split votes in making its final decision.

The council will allow two wells to be drilled on a tract of land near Briarwood Avenue and Roadrunner Trail, just east of the Midland Independent School District bus barn, the same location where the council previously denied the company a vertical drilling permit for a single well. It also was a split vote, with some members citing safety concerns.

The new requests included permits for five directionally drilled wells from one single tract of land, which allowed RSP Permian to eliminate four additional sites it already had permitted with the Railroad Commission.

There certainly are legitimate complaints coming from both

parties.

It’s understandable why residents of the neighborhood don’t want the drilling to occur. It’s also logical RSP Permian wants to gain the full measure of the mineral rights they legally own.

In such situations, a well-founded compromise should be a perfect way to solve the problem. But in this case, neither party is going to be happy with this attempt at compromise.

Also, the City Council’s decision doesn’t leave a clear path for action in similar cases that may follow. So many questions remain unanswered in this ruling.

Did RSP Permian’s five-well plan violate the city’s current oil and gas ordinance? We don’t believe it did.

Is there a safety issue involved we are not aware of that would result in three of the five wells not to be drilled? Is the neighborhood better off with just two wells being drilled?

It seems to us that these matters should be answered by the city ordinance already in place, including the requirement that wells be drilled at least 500 feet from an occupied structure.

Based on what we saw this week, the council could face other similar cases and each time could send a different message in the debate between business and public interests. We hope that is not the case. Maintaining workable and fair city ordinances should be the key in determining future disputes.

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In this case, we doubt that the council pleased either side in this attempt at compromise. And neither the public nor business is clear on what it will take to override or meet city ordinance standards.